GDR reloaded!

25. February 2012 By: Karl-Heinz Remmers

Karl-Heinz Remmers doesn't mince words as he lays out his opinion of Germany's new feed-in tariff plan in his latest publisher's comment.

This government obviously has no inhibitions at all anymore. In a completely uninhibited fashion it continues to implement decisions at short notice that hark back to those during the GDR dictatorship; faithful to the slogan “Neither oxen nor asses can stop the course of socialism!”

It is completely irrelevant whether it is nuclear or solar: Whoever doesn’t fit into Angela Merkel’s plan or her “Boy Group” can expect to get clobbered. Transition periods, maintaining confidence – what is that? Never heard of it. Hold your trap and be glad that it didn’t turn out to be worse. Just like under Erich Honecker in the GDR.

Yes – I choose these harsh words because I am sick and tired of it: Already the shutdown of eight nuclear power plants overnight because “Mummy” didn’t want to lose the elections in Baden-Württemberg was a total meltdown in terms of economic policy (you just don’t do that, even somebody like me who doesn’t like nuclear power). And it’s the same story in every sphere of present day politics. Thus, for example, tax and labor laws are constantly being changed behind closed doors, while the bureaucracy is mushrooming for companies in particular. Again and again the government behaves as if it no longer has anything at all to do with people and the economy. Just like in the GDR – and that from the likes of a CDU/CSU/FDP coalition government.

And then these verbal acrobatics: “Market integration model.” Great, like something from the “Ministry for Truth” (1984, George Orwell). There is nothing behind it except brazen slashing of the remuneration to between 85 and 90 percent. Freely interpreted: Let’s write something first that sounds like something, put it out there, grin about and then it will be all the same anyway.

Or even protection of German electricity customers against Chinese dumping policy. In the opinion of the Minister for the Environment, the dynamic increase in additional photovoltaic construction was triggered by “Chinese dumping policy.” This represents a problem that, in part, eludes domestic legislation. Nevertheless, Röttgen aims to do everything in order to preserve German market and technology leadership, and to prevent the displacement of German companies by Chinese price policies. Isn’t that great?

The only problem is that there are no economic policymakers in Germany – and unfortunately just a series of big mouths as so-called ministers of economic affairs. Proactive management and promotion of domestic top clusters or companies – negative! The market will regulate everything; thus the old unerring faith in the traditional market beliefs of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology.

And Röttgen has nothing to show for it when it comes to the promotion of business and technology: No money, no ideas – and actually not even a mandate. And so nothing happens. Here too, just the beautific words of politicians, smile, in the car and then on to smile at the next one.

Worse still: The abrupt suppression of subsidy rates and the speed in doing so is absolutely hostile to the middle class, and thus lethal for many German enterprises that do not have a committed government or a large (electronics) company to cover their back. Cheap, cheaper, the cheapest – indeed, and fortunately there are the mercilessly chided Chinese: Without their alleged dumping there would probably not be any additional photovoltaic construction in Germany very soon. Although, at the same time, the Chinese share in the overall value output chain has continued to decline year after year (of course, the module prices have dropped substantially, something that is not made up for by increasing market shares).

Thus nothing but crude buzzwords without substance or simply: propaganda for the Boy Group and Mummy.

And now solar. A fat reduction without any regard for the consequences. The beginning of the exit out of fixed remuneration and the whole thing by March 9, 2012, so that now every company is thrown into disarray. Just yesterday orders throughout the entire country for hundreds of millions presumably went up into thin air – the crafts and retail are shocked and approaching the brink of collapse, at least with the prospect of having to lay off thousands of workers in the weeks to come.

Officially, of course, everything that is being done is for the benefit of electricity customers. But as I already indicated, it is all the same: Mummy demanded love, peace and happiness from the boys after the commotion with Gauck on the weekend, and the best way is to feign unity. And to deal out obscenities in such a way that the two ministers stand smiling as a duet in front of the camera.

And so two laws go down the drain at one time: Energy efficiency and solar. No matter, the main thing is that Mummy and the boys feel politically at ease.

It gets on my nerves – no it simply makes me sick: Incompetent self-promoters dabble about and then “the political” is important and the matter as such does not matter. The officials simply have to jump and somehow put this nonsense on paper – otherwise they’ll get the boot.

No wonder that more and more people are turning away disgusted from politics or surprisingly vote for the Pirate Party (although that does not surprise me). Fortunately for our country people are just going about their business and ignoring the worst government ever in the Federal Republic of Germany. If they all behaved the same way, then we would have already arrived at the end of “late Roman decadence.”

Yes, Mr. Westerwelle – you were right. But it is only your class of politicians that is decadent. Mummy and the boys have once again provided more than enough evidence of that. And had they believed that you could clobber somebody in public even more effectively, then ice cream or aluminum rims – as I have already mentioned – would have been up for a punch.

“I don’t understand why the German government must kill photovoltaics and destroy the image of being the most environmental friendly country,” commented a Taiwanese colleague, who along with his company will certainly survive the slaughter of the German solar industry for political reasons.

Down with solar! And then “Keep moving forward, never look back – overtake them without catching up!”